1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a bivouac shelter for residing outdoors or in non-heated accommodation, said bivouac shelter comprising a basis unit which forms a tunnel-like or tube-like body receiving space with a foot region as well as with at least one access opening for at least one person.
Bivouac shelters provide a person with protection from weather conditions when residing outdoors. Such weather conditions can be wind, downpour, such as snow, hail or rain, as well as temperature conditions. Bivouac shelters in particular should also serve for permitting spending the night outdoors and provide a sleeping person with adequate protection from the mentioned weather conditions. Bivouac shelters are used by the most varied of groups of people. Of course, the use of bivouac shelters for outdoor activities such as trekking, mountain tours, expeditions etc. are known. Here, the bivouac shelters permit the stopover over several days, in regions, in which no fixed sheltered accommodation is otherwise available. Moreover, bivouac shelters are also applied for homeless people who for various reasons permanently or temporarily have no fixed accommodation. These can be persons who can no longer live in their fixed accommodation due to the event of damage, such as with earthquakes, fire, flooding or storms. Moreover, the homelessness can also relate to refugees who had to leave their fixed accommodation for various reasons. Moreover, bivouac shelters are also used by emergency services, such as the military with their deployment lasting several days, in regions in which no fixed sheltered accommodation is available and where mobility is highly important. Bivouac shelters are also used in the field of rescue.
Known to a lesser extent is the provision of bivouac shelters to homeless people whom one comes across in large cities and who cannot afford fixed accommodation due to economic reasons for example. This type of homeless people either spends the night out in the open in self-constructed, makeshift dwellings or in overnight shelters for the homeless. It is particularly the case in harsh winters that such overnight shelters are however fully occupied, so that indeed with freezing temperatures many homeless people must spend the night in their makeshift dwellings or at locations out in the open which provide a little shelter. These opportunities for spending the night however provide much too little protection from the weather conditions and in particular low temperatures, so that it is indeed in harsh winters that death and freezing often occurs amongst the homeless.
2. Description of Related Art
Apart from bivouac shelters, sleeping bags are also known for spending the night out in the open, and these are to insulate the body against low outside temperatures. Such sleeping bags are disclosed for example in US 2004/0040087 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,959,834A. The body with such sleeping bags however is not hermetically sealed to the outside, since the head lies outside the sleeping bag and air can therefore circulate through the head opening. The head and in particular the face portion as a rule are insufficiently protected from low temperatures, even if integrated hoods are provided for this. Although it is known to span hood coverings over the head for the reasons mentioned above, this solution is likewise not satisfactory since such hood coverings e.g. are not windproof.
In contrast to the conventional sleeping bags mentioned above, bivouac shelters also provide protection from further weather influences such as wind and downpour. A multitude of bivouac shelters for residing outdoors is known from the state of the art. Thus e.g. WO 2004/109041 describes a mobile protective shelter with an inflatable element. The protective shelter forms a tunnel-like cavity which can provide a lying person with protection and can be closed off to the outside. According to this sheltering device, the complete person is located in the tunnel-like cavity, so that a separate air feed is provided, via which the person is supplied with air for breathing. In another example, the person is supplied with oxygen by an oxygen bottle brought along.
WO94/17266 describes an inflatable sheltering device with an inflatable mattress and, arranged above this, a likewise inflatable cover hood which together with the mattress forms a cavity for completely receiving a person. Air openings are provided for the supply of fresh air.
In certain embodiments of bivouac shelters, the head therefore in each case together with the remaining body is accommodated in a thermally insulating receiving space. This however necessitates the provision of means for the fresh air supply such as e.g. air openings. Moreover, air openings must also be provided in order to prevent the formation of condensation water in the receiving space due to exhaled air. Such air openings however reduce the heat insulation capacity and are moreover problematic with regard to their sealedness with respect to water, such as rain, or surface water. Other means for the supply of fresh air are also elaborate and complicated with regard to their implementation.
According to alternative embodiments of bivouac shelters, the head is arranged outside the thermally insulating receiving space for the body. The supply of breathing air is therefore ensured. Instead, the thermal insulation capacity is likewise reduced by way of leaky or permeable transition region between the outer-lying head portion and the remaining body. Moreover, the head portion is insufficiently protected from the influences of the weather.